The state has the most farms of all United States both in terms of number and acreage. Texas leads the nation in number of cattle, usually exceeding 16 million head. The sprawling La Escalera Ranch, located south of Fort Stockton, is one of the largest cattle ranches in the Southwestern United States. Cultivation of mung bean here began during World War II when a Chinese native by the name of Henry Huie – who worked as a U.S. Army cook – planted the staple crop in the clay plains near Vernon. The state leads nationally in production of sheep and goat products. Texas is king of cotton, leading the nation in cotton production, its leading crop and second-most-valuable farm product. Texas is a leader in cereal crop production. Three counties in the state—Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda—take advantage of water from the Lower Colorado River Authority to grow rice and are responsible for about 5% of annual U.S. rice production. Texas is also a large producer of watermelons, grapefruits, and cantaloupes. The Rio Grande valley is one of the best areas for the cultivation of grapefruit. Early varieties like the Duncan had many seeds and pale flesh, but in the 1880s citrus growers in Texas and Florida discovered pink-fleshed seedless grapefruit mutations like the Ruby Red, which along with red-fleshed varieties like the Rio Red and Star Ruby are preferred varieties for modern commercial production. Phomopsis stem-end rot is a common problem in grapefruit here. Burger & Davis 1982 find etaconazole and imazalil are effective against the post-harvest effects if Phomopsis has already occurred pre-harvest in Texas groves. Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) are an invasive agricultural pest here. Grapes are a common crop in some parts of the state. Pierce's Disease is a common problem in the East and South. From 1970-1996 PD was unknown outside of the southern part of the state and this was thought to be impossible, however in that year suddenly many vineyards were heavily hit in north central Texas and some were wiped out completely. PD resistance is important here due to PD's prevalence. Some areas suffer from Cotton root rot of many crops, including grape. It is so associated with this state that it is also called Texas root rot. In the 1990s strawberry acres had greatly increased especially around Poteet, however by 2004 imported strawberries had competed almost all strawberry production out of the